Caleb Houstan Summer League debut
Houstan came off the bench for the Orlando Magic SL team and paced the team in scoring, dropping a 20 point, 6 rebound performance in a Magic victory. He showed off a lot of what attracted NBA teams to put him on their draft boards. That being said, it's just one summer League game.
Here's a nice writeup on 247. Excited to see how he (and hopefully Moussa) develops.
Where the hell was that when we needed it??? Congrats to him putting it together.
It helps when you've got some playmakers around you who can create their own shot and open up looks for others. That's something Michigan was sorely lacking last season.
This take is like something out of the twilight zone. Michigan got Caleb plenty of wide-open shots. Plenty. He simply missed way too many of them.
It's not. He shot 35.5% from three at Michigan on decent volume. That's not the very best, but it's a good percentage. The offense stagnated a lot last season because Michigan didn't have anybody who could reliably create their own shot, which in turn makes the job of opposing defenses A LOT easier.
Amen. It is only one game, but if he continues to ring up that boxscore I am going to be so confused.
Was last season "opposite day"?
It was a glorified pick up game. Pretty much all his scoring was on wiiiiiiide open looks. Like -- catch, set the feet, find the seams, shoot. He had one nice cut to the hoop that he caught and finished in a little bit of traffic, but I didn't see him creat anything for himself really. That's always been his issue. There's no doubt he can catch a ball and shoot uncontested threes.
Lot of value for a guy like that in the NBA. Will he be a superstar? Definitely not, but the league is chock full of guys who can catch and shoot and be at least a net even defender.
He's got a lot to improve on, but he's got the necessary basic traits to build a solid rotational piece out of, which is about the ceiling you can typically expect from a late first/early second round pick.
Well I saw him miss a whole lot of uncontested threes in a Michigan uniform.
Particularly on the road. Home was much better.
Home game?
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Spacing is far better in the NBA. Clunky people do not clog up the middle or bounce off of each other. Caleb will regain his shooting confidence, and--eventually, there's a very good chance (as evidenced by NBA scouts buying his promise while the savants here scoff)--thrive. As people who DO know and care have pointed out here, repeatedly, his shooting was pretty good anyway.
Score another dismal read for the talent scouts at mgoblog, who really need to stick to football. The list gets ever longer and more embarrassing. Anyway, he's doing what he loves to do, and making the beginnings of some serious coin doing it, at--what--19? Hope that his brilliant critics can all say the same. This is what message boards are for, I know: making yourself feel better by anonymously delivering withering critiques of kids for other similarly learned critics.
We'll see. Summer League Heroes don't necessarily translate to success in the Big League.
Again, I don't want to knock the kid but I swear people around here overreact in both directions, including this scorching hot take that scoring 20 points in a summer league game is proof that the season people saw him put up last year was somehow due to "clunky people clogging the lane" somehow affecting his ability to hit wide open 3s.
Feel free to read into summer league games at your own risk - Stauskas and DJ Wilson, for example, had nice summer league debuts that didn't portend NBA success. I noticed you aren't crowing about his second summer league game where he went 3/10 in 32 minutes.
Sources: The Orlando Magic signed Caleb Houstan to a four-year, $8.2 million deal, which is fully guaranteed the first two seasons, is non-guaranteed Year 3 and has a team option Year 4, @hoopshype has learned. Houstan was selected 32nd overall by the Magic in the draft.
You're mischaracterizing my post--and it's absolutely the case that far-better NBA spacing will help him, as it helps lots of other shooters coming from college--but. . . 'nuff said with the above. People here have been completely full of it re: his promise. . . and have talked through their behinds on player after player, stupidly assuming that their lousy reads on what are essentially children somehow meant that they were not destined to thrive down the road. Obviously, NBA scouts see things a little more accurately, enough to give Caleb a very handsome payday. As Dylan notes this morning over at UMHoops, that option is almost always picked up.
We didn’t have a Paolo Banchero on the floor with that type of gravitational pull.
Since this thread will have plenty of “where was this at Michigan?” comments. I mean, you saw this at Michigan… Houstan had a couple of these kind of games in a Michigan uniform; the problem was they were few and far between. And the Magic’s game tonight demonstrates the same as Houstan had 8/6/0 on 3-10 from the field and 2-7 from 3PT. That’s exactly the type of game-to-game variance we saw from Houstan at Michigan.
He’s probably going to end up a solid role player in the NBA. I think many fans overstated his issues. He was inconsistent but still shot 36% from deep on very high volume. That’s very valuable in and of itself.
With his height, and if he improves his shooting and defense a bit, can see him being a solid starter.
Overstated his issues? He shot 37% from 3 and provided basically nothing else. He only became a passable defender at the end of the season. I wish him the best and hope he’s successful in the NBA, but the revisionism when/if he’s successful in the NBA doesn’t need to occur
A freshman inconsistent? A freshman struggling on the defensive end? Stop the presses!
People acted like it was unthinkable he could get drafted even though a year ago this time he was projected in the lottery. 35%+ on the volume he shot is good. Livers shot similar on lesser volume his freshman year and ended up an elite shooter. Houstan wasn’t really asked to do anything but shoot. That’s his role.
I'm still flabbergasted that he got drafted because let's be honest: his one role was to be a shooter...but he wasn't a great shooter. And his overall game was just not good either. I guess he's a better player than we realized and he may end up OK in the pros but his performance at Michigan and going in the draft will always perplex me.
Why? Players get drafted without proving consistent production all the time. A kid that hasn’t played a competitive minute in over a year went in the top 10.
He shot fine. 36% from deep on his volume is good shooting. He wasn’t as consistent as Michigan fans would like. It was a disappointing season based on our expectations. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a future in the league or isn’t a legit NBA prospect. Duncan Robinson got a $90m contract for being just a shooter. If Houstan can replicate his shooting and play passable defense in the NBA, he’ll have a place in the league.
Yeah but Robinson was a D-III player who got better over the course of his 4 year college career. He got a lot better but he was always a pretty consistent threat from 3 while he worked on the rest of his game. Robinson also had a tendency to disappear in big games but overall I think he's proved that he belongs (and if I recall correctly he worked his way onto the team as an UDFA, Houstan was a first round pick). I think Houstan can get there too but like I said I'll never not be perplexed that an NBA team used a draft pick on him after the season he had at Michigan last year.
If you're really perplexed why a team would draft a 6'8" wing with a 7' wingspan who shoots 36% from three at 19 years old, then you clearly don't know how the NBA works.
Teams want upside in the draft more than anything, and if you can grab a kid with an NBA frame who already has a shooting stroke good enough for the league in the late first or second round, you take that 100 times out of 100 because believe it or not, there ain't a lot of those to go around.
He’s 6’8” and shot over 35% from deep on high volume, that was highly thought of before he played college ball. I think that is a very valuable player if you can develop him. He’s only 19 years old. Your points on Duncan support drafting Houstan. Nobody spent a lottery pick on Houstan, he went in the second round. I am really confused why people think it’s a shock he was drafted at all. Go look at other players drafted around him - Peyton Watson, Patrick Baldwin Jr, Max Christie….I’m not shocked any of them were drafted and you could argue Houstan had a better year than all three.
Didn’t see Houstan's first game when he scored 20 points, but watched much of the second half of the Magic’s 94-92 double overtime win over the Kings this afternoon in which Houstan shot 3 for 10 (2 for 7 from 3-point range), scored eight points, had six rebounds and never got to the free-throw line in 31 minutes. Box Score
He was on the floor for much of the time when the Kings rallied from 11 points down to force overtime and made a dangerous move late in the game when he was trapped close to the sideline near half court on an inbounds play. The announcers said that he’d traveled, but the ref gave him a time-out.
On offense, he often parked himself in one corner, apparently waiting for a pass that never came. I can’t recall him getting a contested rebound. He had no assists or steals. He didn't look very aggressive on defense.
He looked much like the inconsistent player that Michigan had for one season.
OT: In 20 minutes for the Magic, Zavier Simpson scored seven points on 2 for 2 and 3 for 4 at the line with five assists and two steals.
Yep, this was 2 days ago. I watched the Orlando game today and it was a Banchero day...first sudden death game I've ever seen and fun to watch.
Next game was Livers turn and the high scorer for the Pistons with 20. Ivey had 11 in 5 minutes before he turned an ankle and sat out the remainder of the game.
Such a bummer about Ivey, he was looking good. Wish him a swift and full recovery.
A guy closed on him, and Ivey landed on his foot. After review the guy got called for a flagrant 1 for reckless closeout and potential for injury. I didn't think it was Davisonesque, he just needed to leave room for Ivey to come down.
Ivey landed on a guy familiar to many here:
https://mgoblog.com/content/hoops-hello-five-star-pf-isaiah-todd
Livers just went for 20 on 8 FGA. The boys are looking good!
Livers will benefit a lot from Cade and Ivey crashing the paint and kicking it out. I’ve only been to one Pistons game at LCA, I’m gonna definitely double that this fall.
This was posted the night it happened
https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/ot-nba-summer-league-roundup-including-former-m-players
First post was more informative, thanks
Watched both of the Pistons SL games and Livers has definitely slimmed down from his time at Michigan. He is moving quicker laterally and is definitely trying to round into more of a 3 man. Also has looked impressive rotating over for a number of blocked shots. If he can continue to knock down perimeter shots I think he could be a rotation piece for the Pistons this year.
100 agree. And I think he's going to do it too.
In the 20 or so games he played at the end of last year he shot 43% from three. He looks great so far this year. Bouncy, very active on defense off ball especially. Gave me Draymond Green vibes in that he'd just would contribute in a hundred little ways.
It reminded me of the elite Livers we finally had by the end of his senior season. Then he got injured. He would have carried us if he were healthy.
I told my son to just watch Livers play for 5 minutes for how to play D off the ball. The guy knows how to play basketball and is in the right spot at all times, very smart player. Rooting for him hard to play himself into a meaningful role for Pistons.
Isaiah adds a whole lot to a team. I have a hard time believing that Michigan does not win the NC if he stays healthy. I believe TWill has a good dose of "Isaiah" in him.
It is going to be interesting to see how Caleb matures out. I like this young man a lot...terrific kid with a ton of talent. I think somebody is going to figure out how to unlock all his giftedness. Those negging and hating on him are a clueless, mean-spirited bunch-almost as bad as the Poole haters.
There is no part of TWill's game comparable to Livers on either end of the court.
He made his debut again?
Caleb had a that bad shooting bounce back game we often saw at Michigan. 2-7 from three. But he looked comfortable and had 6 rbs.
But did you see Isaiah Livers? He is going to play for the Pistons for a very long time. He does everything right. And he looks healthier and much more athletic than he ever has. He's going to contribute to Detroit for a long time. Floor is a solid bench player for many years.
Still sorry he left, still wishing for him to do well. Nice start.
First game of the NBA summer league .
He played well in AAU didn't he?
most likely the same feel.
Lets not give him the MVP trophy just yet eh
Good start for him but it’s summer league. Let’s not get carried away
Houstan really struggled after that first game. Here’s how every former Michigan Wolverine did in the Summer League
28.8 minutes per game (4 games), 8.5 points per game, 3.8 rebounds per game, 13/40 shooting from field (32.5%), 7/28 on threes (25%)
He was 5/9 from 3 in the first game, then 2/19. He's got a long way to go.